February 26, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



99 



once joined it to the Tuilleries palace. The terrace on this 

 side is called " La terrasse des Feuillants," from a convent of 

 Benedictines, or " Feuillants," which formerly adjoined it, 

 and, during the early days of the Revolution, was the rallying 

 place of the moderate republicans. It is thickly shaded with 

 old Lindens, and in summer forms a delightful promenade 

 overlooking, on one side, the busy street, and, on the other, 

 the wide, quiet, graveled space called the "AlleedesOrangers." 

 The Orange-trees are wintered in a house that stands near 

 the river, but in summer are set out in long lines, which add 

 vastly to the dignity of the garden by their symmetrical, 

 architectonic shape, and to its charm by the perfume they 

 exhale. Many of the trees are very ancient, but they are well 

 cared for, and, in form as well as profusion of bloom, satisfy 

 the most critical eye. The wooden boxes in which they stand 

 are painted a delicate, dull pale green, which contrasts well 

 with their dark foliage and harmonizes well with the pale tone 

 of the gravel. 



The trees shown at the right of our picture indicate planta- 

 tions of rectangular form which border both sides of another 

 alley, likewise furnished with rows of Oranges. Here, not 

 far away from the point where we stand in the picture, is a 

 little cafe, ignored of the tourist — a low, isolated building with 

 an awning and tables facing toward the interior of the garden. 

 Stumbling on its quiet shelter, one can realize the blessing 

 that his beautiful urban parks must be to the Parisian. We 

 are thankful for a small, noisy space like Madison or Union 

 Square. But here in the very heart of Paris there is little 

 except the subdued roar of the Rue de Rivoli behind us to 

 tell that a city exists. In front of the tables are Oleanders and 

 Pomegranates blooming in pots ; to the right and left 

 stretches the long perspective of thick, straight-edged plan- 

 tations supported by the lines of Orange-trees, and beyond is 

 the charming reach of flowery parterres which once formed 

 the private garden of royalty (shut off from the main garden 

 by a moat, now bridged, and a railing, now removed), and 

 still further, the stately avenues long ago planted by Le Notre 

 in the centre of the Tuilleries enclosure. There can be noth- 

 ing more delightful than such a scene on a warm, glaring 

 day when one is surfeited with streets and men, for the quiet 

 is enlivened merely by an occasional nurse-maid and her 

 troop of little ones. But best of all, perhaps, is one of those 

 days of alternate sun and shower which are frequent in Paris 

 even in midsummer. Then the changes of light give each 

 moment a new picture, newly tempting to the painter's hand ; 

 and under our protecting awning we can watch the white- 

 capped nurse-maids scurrying before a shower with a little, 

 yet not too much, of that feeling of pleasure in other people's 

 misfortunes which one of their compatriots long ago declared 

 to be a joy dear to all human hearts. 



Holiday Notes in Southern France and Northern 

 Italy.— XL 



NICE, a beautifully situated city, is one of the most popular 

 of Mediterranean health-resorts. The mean winter tem- 

 perature is ten to fifteen degrees Fahr. higher than that of 

 Paris, and the mean summer temperature from five to ten 

 degrees lower. February is the coldest month, and the mean 

 temperature for that month — according to M. Teysseire's pub- 

 lished records of twenty years' observations taken with instru- 

 ments placed outside his window on a fourth floor facing the 

 north-north-east — is forty-six and two-tenths degrees. 



The fine avenue of Eucalyptus globiclus near the railway 

 station at once attracts the attention of the stranger at Nice ; 

 here the trees are of considerable height and bulk, and at the 

 time of our visit the smooth polished, white or pink tinted 

 stems looked very picturesque ; the bark still hung in long 

 Hakes from the larger branches. In many places along the 

 Riviera the Eucalyptus present but a sorry appearance; at 

 Nice, on the contrary, they seemed to have soil which exactly 

 suited their requirements. The famous Promenade des Ang- 

 lais, with its long range of Date Palms, Oleanders, etc., pre- 

 sented nothing remarkable from a garden point of view, nor 

 did the Public Garden, except a group of Pines, clothed with 

 Wistaria Sinensis. 



The gardens belonging to the King of Wiirtemburg scarcely 

 repaid the trouble of a visit; as in nearly all the Riviera gar- 

 dens, there was hardly a green blade of grass to be seen in 

 mid-September, and beds of Zinnias, colored Amaranths, etc., 

 only brought into greater relief the burnt up lawns. A sort of 

 cascade and a piece of rockwork seemed altogether out of 

 place. The only feature of special interest was the fence of 

 tall black and yellow stemmed Bamboos ; the first named was 



Phyllostachys nigra (Bambusa nigra of gardens), with tall, pol- 

 ished, black stems, far higher and thicker than ever they are 

 seen in England, and the other probably a species of 

 Arundinaria. 



Lambert's nursery is well worth a visit ; various species of 

 Phoenix were here cultivated in enormous quantities, amongst 

 them P. tenuis, P. Leonensis (no doubt the south African P. spi- 

 nosa), and P. Canariensis. Specimens of Washinglonia filifera, 

 in tubs and in the ground, were numerous. Thousands of 

 Camellias and Gardenias were also growing in nursery quar- 

 ters ; a goodly proportion of the latter would be taken up a 

 little later and placed under glass in order to supply the 

 demand for cut flowers during the Nice season. Amongst 

 Ferns, Pteris tremula and P. Cretica were grown in large quan- 

 tities, in the open ground, in beds, and also between the rows 

 of Palms, etc. The establishment of Besson Freres is also well 

 worth a visit, Palms and Bamboos being cultivated on a large 

 scale. The fine rows of the Chusan Fan Palm, Trachycarpus 

 (Chamcerops) excelsus, in the grounds of the Paris Exhibition, 

 mostly came from the nursery just named. 



The Castle Hill, in the south-eastern portion of the city, 

 about 320 feet high, is crowned by the ruins of the castle 

 destroyed by the Duke of Berwick at the beginning of the 

 eighteenth century. There are fine grounds — quite a forest 

 of Pinus Halepensis, with stems taller and straighter than any 

 we saw elsewhere along the Mediterranean — and Date Palms, 

 Aloes, Agaves, etc., in abundance. Splendid views in all 

 directions are obtained from above the pretty waterfall, which 

 is fed by an aqueduct. During the period of our visit part of 

 the grounds were closed to the public, being occupied by the 

 tents of the soldiers who had been brought there on account 

 of some fever outbreak in their barracks. The long lines of 

 tents and the brightly colored uniforms under the waving 

 Palm-trees lent an additional charm to a wonderfully pretty 

 spot. On the north side of the hill are situated the different 

 cemeteries, our coachman, with charming simplicity, pointing 

 out one which he said belonged to the Protestants — that of the 

 Christians, he added, is further over. It appeared to us that 

 some of the steep slopes bordering the winding carriage drive 

 to the top of the hill might have been clothed with Lentisk, 

 Myrtle and other indigenous plants, which certainly would 

 thrive better and produce a more pleasing effect than the 

 Agaves, which had not soil enough to develop properly. 



One of the specialties of Nice is candied Parma violets, 

 which are sold in pretty little round boxes ; the petals of 

 Orange-flowers are also candied. 



Kew. G. Nicholson. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



OOW to make fruit-culture in England pay has become a 

 -*- -*- problem of some considerable importance within the 

 last two or three years, or, say, from the time when Mr. Glad- 

 stone made what is now known as the Great Jam Speech. In 

 addition to the important work done in this direction by the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, there is also the special effort 

 made this year by the Fruiterers' Company, with the great 

 influence of the then Lord Mayor at its back, and we have now 

 a third body called the British Fruit Growers' Association. 

 The objects of this new Association appear to be similar 

 to those of the Royal Horticultural Society in respect to fruit 

 culture, namely, to hold public meetings and conferences in 

 various parts of the country, to collect information, reports, 

 essays, etc., and publish them, to award prizes and certificates; 

 in short, to propagate the gospel of fruit-culture in such a way 

 as shall develop to the fullest the capabilities of the land and 

 its cultivators in the production of hardy fruits. There is a 

 wholesome tendency now toward rigorous selection ; bad 

 sorts are to be condemned from the housetops, so that no 

 nurseryman will attempt to grow them ; good sorts are to be 

 as loudly recommended, so that none but these shall in future 

 be planted. This is good work. The unwary public are too 

 often persuaded to plant varieties of fruit-trees which are as 

 worthless as Oaks as a source of marketable fruit. There are 

 far too many varieties at present, and if the various societies 

 which have undertaken to push this business succeed in weed- 

 ing out all worthless kinds, they will have performed good 

 work. What with conferences and reports on fruit exhibited, 

 the public generally know, or ought to know, a great deal 

 more about the merits of different kinds of fruit than they 

 ever did before. Meanwhile, the great bulk of the apple's 

 consumed, in England during the winter and spring are 

 from America, and being much cheaper than English- 

 grown fruit, they are, as a rule, more palatable than the English 



